Machines for treating the above-defined materials are presently generally fed by hand, which has various drawbacks, namely: continuous attendance of workpeople next to the machines, hard work, irregular feeding of said machines due to difficult handling of the materials being treated, fibers getting loose from the mass to be accumulated around said machines and comprising a danger when uncontrolled fiber accumulations are caught by moving parts of said machines.
It has also been attempted to automate the loading of said machines by means of endless belts provided with projecting elements which retract below the belt level as they reach the belt end. This way of working has also many drawbacks, namely locking of the elements inside the recesses thereof due to material entering such recesses, and the need for an and delicate mechanism for retracting said projecting elements.